Trooper Shot 12 Times Files $30 Million Suit Over Call's Handling

PORTLAND, OR – "CODE ZERO. CODE ZERO. OFFICER DOWN!" was the urgent message that went out from Washington County Dispatch on Christmas Day, 2016. Oregon State Trooper Nic Cederberg had been shot.

Cederberg had been in pursuit of James Tylka who had just shot and killed his wife after she had dropped off their son as she prepared to head to work.

It was less than ten minutes after the call went out to be on the lookout for Tylka that Cederberg spotted him and broadcast his location.

Get all the latest information on what's happening in your community by signing up for Patch's newsletters and breaking news alerts

Within moments, Cederberg reported that he was being shot at.

Dispatch tried to raise him on multiple radio channels. Cederberg didn't answer and that's when the Code Zero call went out. Code Zero indicates an immediate threat to the life of an officer or firefighter.

Officers converged on Gimm Lane - a dead end road where Cederberg's car was found. They could see him lying on the ground.

The officers knew that he had been shot.

Cederberg says that not only did not have to be that way, it shouldn't have happened.

LAWSUIT FILED

In a newly-filed $30 million suit that he filed in federal court in Portland, he charges that dispatchers never told him that Tylka was armed, that he had shot his wife, and that he was considered suicidal.

The suit says that "lacking critical officer safety information, Trooper Cederberg made tactical decisions regarding the manner and continuation of the pursuit that he would not otherwise have made, was exposed and subjected to an unanticipated lethal attack and suffered critical, life threatening and permanently disabling injuries."

Cederberg's lawsuit also names the Washington County Sheriff's Office and Legacy Meridian Park Hospital as defendants stemming from incidents in Nov. 2016, the month before the shooting.

On Nov. 29, a sheriff's deputy had a chance to arrest Tylka after "developing probable cause to believe that Mr. Tylka had placed his estranged wife, KatelynN Tylka, in imminent fear of death," according to the suit.

The sheriff's office had been told by Kate Tylka that James had made repeated threats to kill her and their baby and that he had recently purchased knives in the trunk of his car.

The suit states that the following day, Kate Tylka told police that her husband had been depressed and "purposely took too much insulin."

Tylka was rushed to Legacy Meridian Park Hospital where the police sent a "Peace Officer Hold" to have Tylka admitted and held because of the weapons found found, his attempted suicide, his threats to his wife and baby, and previous suicide attempts.

Despite that, Tylka was not admitted or referred to another facility.

Cederberg's lawyers argue that he should have been held and, by releasing him, the hospital had been negligent.

"THERE WERE SO MANY RED FLAGS"

"I shot her mom. I shot her. She screwed up my life. My whole life's been screwed up and I shot her and I'm gonna kill myself."

"I killed your sister."

Those were messages from James Tylka shortly after he killed his wife on Christmas Day. He had shot her six times in the chest and twice in the head.

The first is what he told his mother and the second was a text he sent to his wife's sister.

Those were just some of the details that Washington County Deputy District Attorney Bracken McKey had included in a report summing up his office's investigation. McKey said that if Tylka had survived, he would have been charged with murdering his wife.

"There were so many red flags," McKey told Patch, making it clear that on some level maybe it was a tragedy that had been avoidable.

James and Katelyn had been married in December 2014 and had a daughter, Brynn.

It was not a great relationship, one that was punctuated "with a history of domestic violence - a history that is corroborated by other police investigations," McKey wrote.

The couple separated in 2015 but stayed in touch for the sake of Brynn.

"In the weeks leading up to her death, Tylka sent Katelynn hundreds of text messages, alternatively begging her to take him back, and threatening to kill her."

The afternoon of Christmas Eve, Tylka went to a private gun dealer in Portland bought a 9 mm Springfield XD Mod.2 handgun.

He then went to a sporting good store and bought ear plugs and 9 mm ammunition.

On Christmas morning, Tylka changed his Facebook profile image to a photo of Katelynn and him from their wedding day.

Katelynn was scheduled to work that night so she drove to the home on Southwest King James Place where Tylka lived with his mother and step-father to drop off Brynn.

It was around 10:10 p.m..

Tylka went out to the car, unbuckled Brynn from her car seat. He carried her to the entry way of the home and set her down.

He walked back toward the car, took out his gun, and shot his wife eight times - six times in the chest and twice in the head.

Tylka's mother heard the shots and ran outside to see what happened. She went to the car where James was now sitting. The engine was running.

She tapped on the window but he took off.

He called her a few moments later wanting to know if Katelynn was dead.

"I shot her mom. I shot her. She screwed up my life. My whole life's been screwed up and I shot her and I'm gonna kill myself."He then called one of Katelynn's close friends and told her what he had done.

He then called Katelynn's sister.

The police were called. An Oregon State Police trooper soon saw Tylka and gave chase.

Nic Cederberg was that trooper.

Within moments, Cederberg had reported that he was being shot at.

CODE ZERO

Dispatch tried to raise him on multiple radio channels. Cederberg didn't answer and that's when the Code Zero call went out. Code Zero indicates an immediate threat to the life of an officer or firefighter.

Officers converged on Gimm Lane - a dead end road where Cederberg's car was found. They could see him lying on the ground.

The officers knew that he had been shot. There was no indication of where Tylka was.

Officers Stanley Smith, Christopher Pierce, and Joseph Twigg from the Sherwood Police Department, Eli Sanders from the Tualatin Police Department, and Anthony Christofaro from the Hillsboro Police Department quickly coordinated and formed a "360-cell."

The 360-cell allows officers to work together and make sure all bases are covered, that they won't be caught off-guard and had each other covered.

By doing so, the D.A.'s office concluded, they saved their own lives and likely the lives of others.

What they could not know was that Tylka was hiding in dense vegetation less than 10 yards away, on a hill overlook Cedereberg's body. Tylka was armed with the trooper's Smith and Wesson M&P .40 caliber pistol.

Investigators from the district attorney's office talked with all five officers, each of whom added to the story.

Officer Pierce would tell investigators that he held a hard shield in the front of the 360-cell that moved towards Trooper Cederberg's body. He heard someone say to cover the left which made him turn his head towards where Tylka was hiding.

He saw Tylka crouched down on the embankment, bloody, and holding a gun. He heard commands yelled from the officers, and saw that Tylka did not drop his weapon and continued too have it pointed towards them, so he fired one round from his Glock 21 pistol.

Pierce heard many shots and saw Tylka fall over. He moved up the hill and saw Tylka lying on the ground and that the gun was no longer in Tylka's hand.

Officer Smith described creeping together towards Trooper Cederberg's body and having no idea where the suspect was. He heard Twigg ask for someone to cover his left, and so he shone his flashlight and ended up right where Tylka was hiding.

Hc saw Tylka's face and heard officers yelling commands. He saw a bright orange muzzle flash from Tylka. He fired one round and heard volley shots coming from other officers. He then saw Tylka's face disappear, concluded that the threat was neutralized, and didn't fire any further.

Twigg, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Army National Guard, has extensive training in Tactical Emergency Casualty Care, and caries a combat trauma kit, rushed to Cederberg after Tylka went down and provided medical care.

Twigg is credited with saving Cederberg's life.

Sanders talked about seeing the flashlight shining and someone yelling, 'there he is." He said he saw Tylka sitting in the woods, a gun trained on the officers. Sanders fired 17 times. Seeing that Tylka was down, he ran up to him to make sure the others could get to Cederberg.

Christofaro directed the formation of the cell, "which ultimately saved the lives of officers" that night, according to the district attorney' office.

The medical examiner would later conclude Tylka had a blood alcohol level of .11 when he was killed.

The investigation concluded that after Tylka shot Cederberg, he went to the trooper, took his gun, and shot him again.

Tylka then headed up an embankment to try and ambush officers.

The D.A.'s office concluded that the officers knew that James Tylka was armed, and hiding in dense vegetation.

All officers believed James Tylka was attempting to shoot them or shoot fellow offcers at the time they fired their weapons.

"It is clear that all five of the above-listed officers acted under the reasonable belief that James Tylka was using or about to use unlawful deadly physical force at the time they fired," according to the district attorney's office.

"SORRY FOR WHAT I'M ABOUT TO DO"

When police searched the car that Tylka had been driving – it was his wife's, he had stolen it – they found a petition for a restraining order that she had filled out but not yet submitted. She wanted to make sure he would not be able to come near her.

There were also two cards from James to Katelynn. One was an anniversary card. In it, he wrote: "I am sorry for what I am about to do."

McKey told Patch last year that if there is any silver lining to this story it will be that more people in domestic violence situations reach out for help.

"Katelynn was 24 at the time of her murder," he said. "Each year, a significant number of Washington County's homicides are domestic-violence related. If you have concerns for your own safety in a domestic relationship, help is available.

McKey pointed to several resources including: The Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233 and The Washington County's Domestic Violence Resource Center at (503) 640-5352.

CEDERBERG'S RECOVERY

Cederberg's lawsuit argues that there were red flags along the way, chances for Tylka to have been stopped.

While that may be true, the shooting did happen and Cederberg's suit makes it clear that he has many injuries from which he will spend years recovering.

Among the injuries:

• Gunshot wound to his chest that fractured a rib, lodged in his lung, collapsing it;
• Gunshot wound to the abdomen that caused extensive damage and remains in his body;
• Gunshot wound that had to be removed from his spinal canal;
• Six gunshot wounds to his left arm where fragments remain;
• Two gunshot wounds to his right arm that caused loss of sensation, loss of coordination, weakness in his hand, and loss of grip strength;
• Nerve pain, incontinence, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Cederberg's wife, Hayley, is also a plaintiff in the suit, arguing that after her husband returned home after 48 days in the hospital, she spent five months as his primary caregiver, which left her unable to work.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office and Legacy Meridian Park Hospital have not yet responded directly to the charges in the suit.

Photo of Nic Cederberg via Oregon State Police.